The ANC has pulled out all the stops in attempts to retain the City of Joburg ward 21 councillor position that was left vacant when its previous occupant graduated to the provincial legislature. Former Ward 21 councillor Mpho Sesedinyane is now the ANC MPL in the Gauteng legislature.
The race to retain the ward took an interesting turn on voting day when Gauteng Premier and ANC provincial Chairman Panyaza Lesufi took time off from his government job to campaign for the ANC in the ward, located in Soweto.
Lesufi, Nciza, Morero, Mokonyane campaign in Soweto
Lesufi was accompanied by provincial secretary Thembinkosi Nciza.
This was while Joburg regional chairperson and mayor of the city Dada Morero also took time off from his state role to garner votes for the ANC in Soweto.
Morero was accompanied by regional secretary Sasabona Manganye and regional treasurer Maxwell Nedzamba.
The ANC’s national deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane also campaigned in Soweto this week.
It was also working hard to gain Ward 09, which previously belonged to Al Jamah.
Morero said the ANC, following the visit by the national working committee (NWC) to Gauteng at the weekend, decided that it must be all hands-on-deck ahead of the 2026 local government elections.
On a mission to strengthen party
“It’s not just only this work. The ANC has taken a view post our Lekgotla. And, of course, the NWC visit to our regions. Also part of the understanding that [the] organisation is now taking stock of the weaknesses, and we’re trying to strengthen ourselves. So elections are now taken quite seriously at all levels, whether provincial [or] national,” said Morero.
“You probably see some national leaders were also here. Comrade Nomvula and others visited the wards before today. So, it’s a matter of both wards (nine and 21). We have two wards that were contested, including ward nine in Lenasia. So, we’ve taken a view that we must win this.”
All the ANC heavyweights were confident that Ward 21 was the “home of the ANC” according to Manganye.
Plan to retain Ward 21 in Soweto
Nciza and Lesufi said the ANC would retain ward 21. They said they were out on the street because “ward 21 is the ward of the ANC and we should defend it”.
The ward is hotly contested. New entrants Umkhonto we Sizwe Party (MKP) are also in the running for their first seat in the Joburg council.
Morero said MKP can forget about it. This because the ANC in the ward was “just too strong” as per outcomes in the May 29 elections.
